Page 69 of Special Agent Murphy

Chapter Forty-two

Kayti knew she needed to give up the pretense about her apartment being unsafe. Bud had texted her on her new phone the day before that they’d caught the thief and were remanding him for trial. Her place was now risk free.

Seems his last robbery attempt had ended with the loser using his gun. Before they caught up with him, he put a store owner in the hospital. Turns out, it was his kid who snitched on him. Said he did it because of a lady cop who tried to protect him. Then he disappeared, took off from the precinct and the cops still hadn’t found him.

One never knew when something they do will influence another. It made her happy to think she’d had a positive impact. She’d be visiting the kid in juvie as soon as they picked him up.

One thing she knew for sure. It wouldn’t be happening until they got Misti back.

She’d woken up that morning to pure bliss, lying beside Murphy, cuddled close. His warmth, his smell, his arms. God, everything about the dude had her tied up in knots. She never wanted to sleep away from him again.

Now she looked over at him behind the wheel, she wondered how her aunt would react to them in a relationship. If they kept their regular Christmas day appointment, she had a few days to figure out what to say… or not.

They could keep things between themselves. Not that it sat right with her to lie to the only family she had left. But since she’d kill for the man, she guessed a mere lie didn’t warrant this extreme feeling of guilt.

“It’s okay for us to show up at Headquarters together?”

“Hey, most know you’re under my protection. No one will say anything. If they do, they’ll answer to me.”

Knowing people didn’t approach him without good reason and caution, she surmised nothing would be said. Certainly, not to their face.

“Did you talk with Bud this morning?” She knew he’d made calls while she was in the shower.

“Yeah. Time’s running out. The Bill is up for a vote soon. Kale figures they’ll either be calling about the ransom today, or we’re completely off the mark.”

“But you don’t believe we made any mistakes, do you?”

“Not even for a second. I just wish we’d catch a break. We’ve tried every avenue we could take, even to hanging out at the bar digging for scraps.”

Before she could answer, the car phone rang. As soon as she saw the name of the caller, she knew. Pushing the answer button, she listened while Bud exclaimed, excitement obvious in his voice, “He called. You were right, Black. It’s the Bill.”

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